The Ballato Estate was as beautiful as it was expansive. Josh took Tyler outside first, showing him the pond they swam in during warmer months and the garden that Sarah largely tended to.

Tyler was happy to see that the garden had a birdbath in it, and he went right up to a blackbird preening its feathers in the water. He dipped his hands into the cool liquid and then trickled it lightly over the small bird, which chirped in appreciation as it ruffled its wings. Tyler couldn't help the giggle that escaped his lips.

Once finished helping the bird, Tyler turned to see Josh staring at him again. This time, he tilted his head slightly, wondering why the boy seemed so distracted today.

Near the pond, there was a grassy expanse dotted with large shade trees, and that was where Tyler and Josh found the other children. Jenna was reading with her back against the trunk of one tree, while Sarah sat nearby, absent-mindedly running her fingers through the grass under her hands, causing lovely flowers to sprout and bloom from it. Pete and Patrick were huddled together under one tree, and Brendon and Ryan were arguing good-naturedly about something while laying comfortably in a patch of sunlight.

"Long time no see!" Brendon called as they approached, sitting up. This was seemingly directed at Josh, who only scowled.

"Josh is showing me around," Tyler announced.

"Have you shown him the attic yet?" Jenna asked, glancing up from the pages of her book. "We might head up there soon."

"Not yet," Josh mumbled. He seemed to use a different voice around the other children--a deeper, more distant one. Perhaps that was his special gift, like Brendon; the ability to alter one's own voice. But, no. This voice still sounded like Josh, just...a little bit colder, maybe.

The yellow-haired boy soon led Tyler away from the pond's edge, taking him back up into the house. There was a study room, a storage room, and an absolutely massive library. Tyler had been in the library not far from his house, but it was small and not nearly as well-stocked as this one, and certainly not with such old manuscripts. He admired the worn, faded spines of the books as he walked through the silent halls.

"You're a reader?" Tyler asked Josh, the latter following along quietly behind him as he looked at the books.

"Yeah, I guess."

"What kind of books do you like?"

"Mostly classics," Josh mumbled, eyes cast down. He looked almost as if this embarrassed him.

Tyler turned to face him, beaming. "Me, too! Mama has a big collection in the living room by the TV, she always lets me read them." He faltered briefly, upon remembering that he didn't live at home anymore.

"Do you have a favorite book?" Josh asked in a softer tone as if he'd seen Tyler's face fall.

"I like Sense And Sensibility a lot." Tyler turned back to the shelves, poring through the alphabetized tales until he found the very book he'd just spoken of. A smile returning to his face, he slipped it out of its place and held it in his hands, deciding to take it to his room to read later. "I've read it six times. What about you?"

"Huckleberry Finn," Josh said, without a moment's thought.

"Nice," Tyler commented politely, pausing to hold the book in his hands up to his face, breathing in. The smell of old books, an indescribable scent in itself, reminded Tyler of the shelf by the TV, and it made him feel a bit better.